Grantsburg STORMS

by St. CROIX  5-3

Pirate Bats tooooo BIG!

We may lose....but not today......

And so the St, Croix saga continues... the battle for middle earth rages on.  I wish I had a buck for every time I watched that movie.  And for you speakerless people, you have no idea what I am talking about.  So enjoy being clueless, enjoy being naive.  Enjoy that life goes on and your brain is on a different channel...Hopefully, it is peaceful in your world.

One of the lessons that athletes eventually learn is to appreciate wins when they come.  Too often, players and fans start expecting things and voice their opinion that they should win or certain other teams deserve to lose. Two years ago, these same players went to the sectional tournament.  There were no expectations, it was just a bunch of little kids...8 were freshmen and sophomores.  The world was big... There was no pressure.  They played the game with anticipation and growing skills.  They went to the state tournament.  They were spoiled with talent and good fortune.  They thought it was easy.  Last year, those 8 players and a couple of coaches were slapped into reality.  Both teams played in the same field conditions, and the other team played better...  We were sooooooo tempted to make excuses.  Real athletes don't make excuses.  They just tighten their laces, oil their gloves, sharpen their skills, and hope that the next opportunity goes their way.  It wasn't that we deserved to win tonight... nobody deserves to win, It was that on this one night, enough things went our way.  We were able to overcome some mistakes and still pull it off.  Congratulations to St. Croix Falls on their season and thanks for becoming a focus that makes Grantsburg even better.  Grantsburg did not play well tonight for most of the game.  but, it was good enough... a W is a W.

 Great Blast Miranda....sooooooooo sweet.

Here are the pics....no practice Friday...practice Sunday and Monday at 6:00.. Next games...at Fall Creek.

I am going home to celebrate...get my canoe....and relax.....I may write more later...I am starved...I am not used to playing past the fifth inning.

11:00 pm    Hello..I am back...WOW, what a game. I guess you could say that we survived the night.  Without even taking much time to think about the game, I can recall 8 times where we mishandled the ball.  I do believe everyone involved was a touch nervous... including Don and me...and Bart.  The good thing is that we won, even though we did not play our best game.  We played well enough to win.  We experienced a real challenge and survived.  We are the regional champions and we are very proud.

SCF came out punching in the first inning.  Lundgren started the game by tripling to the gap.  We missed the cut off and she was safe.  The next batter grounded to Mollie but both runners ended up being safe.  SCF stole second and had two runners in scoring position with nobody out.  Mollie bore down and proceeded to strike out the side.  We survived the first punch of the fight.   When Grantsburg came to bat, it looked very good.  Katie singled through the hole to start the game.  Mollie lined a shot to center.  With runners on first and second Whit ripped one down the line scoring Katie.  When Miranda hit a sac fly to center, Mollie scored.  With two outs, Shelby singled to center scoring Whitney and giving Grantsburg a temporary 3-0 lead.  Things were looking good.

Mollie continued hot in the second inning and retired them in order.  Grantsburg started the second with Sarah's single up the middle.  Mollie also reached as she was hit by a pitch.  But both runners were stranded and the score remained 3-0.

With one out in the third, Lundgren singled again.  When Busby grounded to third, we chose incorrectly and both runners were safe.  Weinberg singled and Lundgren scored.  Mollie got the next two batters.  Grantsburg had a weak showing in the third inning as all three batters hit fly balls to the outfield.

SCF did not score in the 4th inning.   Lindsey started our inning reaching base on an error.  When Sarah singled for her second time, things looked good with runners on first and third nobody out.  Alyssa lined to second and Michelle was caught off the bag at third for a double play taking us out of a potential big inning.  SCF was making the plays.

SCF continued to battle in the fifth. With one out, Busby tripled to the gap.  We missed the cutoff again and she was safe.  Weinberg picked up her second hit and reached second on another Grantsburg error. Then on an over throw error, Busby went home. The game was now very tight with Grantsburg holding a small 3-2 lead.

Somewhere the birds are singing and somewhere the sky was blue.  Whitney singled to center and Miranda pounded one, too.  The ball left the building as Whitney and Miranda pranced to the plate giving the Pirates some breathing room.  It was the second game in a row where Miranda had gone yard.  It was a perfect time...exactly what the Pirates needed.  Jamie came in the game to pitch in the 6th inning.  She threw hard and well.  She struck out the first two batters before Thayer grounded right back to her... the throw was off target but on the next pitch, Miranda gunned her down.  We went to the 7th.

Douglas-White reached on a single.  After Cuddihy singled, the ball was thrown around toe everybody and we finally got an out at third.  After a past ball and a wild pitch, she scored.  Lundgren walked and Busby reached on an FC.  With runners on first and second, Weinberg popped to second.  We failed to cover the bases and Lundgren moved to third.   Jamie gritted her teeth, did her Venus imitation, and after three foul balls, she struck out the clean up batter and all was well in the world...  The Pirates had survied 5-3 and will play Elk Mound who beat Prescott 5-4.  The game will be at 1:00 in Fall Creek.  Chippewa  and Hurley will play in the other game at the same time.  The championship game will take place at 3:00.

What a crowd tonight..........  We didn't play perfectly, but we played well enough to raise our record to 20-1.  In the last two years, Grantsburg has picked up 40 wins but this time, there is room for more.

TWIS:  Who watered the dugout?  What happened to Alvin and the Chicken Dance?  We didn't have to warm up until 4:35 tonight...people were there to watch...against SCC we warmed up poorly and played well.  Against SCF, we warmed up well and played poorly.  hmm.  Grantsburg now has out of the park homeruns, a team record.  The batting average is a team record.  Runs scored is a team record.  8 all conference is a team record.  It is the 4th regional championship in the last five years.  Bart can now live in Grantsburg for the next year.  Heidi takes pictures.  The concession stand has done well.  I just got an email from Mike Cole.  They were on Lake Mille Lacs listening to the game....They didn't start the engine until the game was over...  Next year, Wisconsin may charge admission for tournament games. They already do for sectionals.  We had a bear in our yard last night.  My pontoon has not been started.  Don will sleep tonight.  There was only one walk in the entire game... Grantsburg struck out only once.  SCF struck out 12 times. SCF brought their A game tonight.  They really battled.  Alyssa has slippery shoes. We had a sac bunt and a sac fly in the first inning.  Everybody watched their swing on video.  Sarah brought ice cream the other night...thanks.  We all watched Amanda put on a show in practice.  Oil your gloves.   Nice to see Liz at the game... dare-devil woman.  On the baseball field, Grantsburg was playing Grantsburg.  The umps were from Rice Lake...we knew them... congratulations seniors....you have picked up three regional championships and three conference championships....and you can always say..You never lost a game at home during your entire senior year.  I am off to bed now...perhaps more in the morning... I will be at the St. CRoix river looking for that magical eagle... the eagle that talks to me.... the eagle that owns me.gg

Sleep well.  Come and watch Bart Play at Cushing... Friday night at 8:30....